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Re:Web Writable Files API: Simplifying Local File Access by jolmg on Monday November 12, 2018 @07:06PM (#18437157)
No, I hate it too. As a consumer, I wish to do my computing in my machine and not in SaaS provider's machines, having to share with them personal data when there's no technical reason to do so.

I think the main driving forces on this are:

1. It's easier for computer illiterate people to use web services, since they don't have to go through an installation process.

2. It's easier for developers to support their users because they don't have to worry about their users' computer environments, which is largely out of their control.

3. It's also harder/impossible for their users to pirate their software, since they it never runs in their machines.

I think the biggest reason (and the one harder to fix) is the piracy one.

Re:Web Writable Files API: Simplifying Local File Access by asdfasgasdgasdg on Monday November 12, 2018 @11:38PM (#18438635)
> 3. It's also harder/impossible for their users to pirate their software, since they it never runs in their machines.

I think your second point is actually the dominant one, but you're not wrong about this either. In some sense, we get the computing landscape that we (collectively) asked for.

Re:Web Writable Files API: Simplifying Local File Access by jack_jennings on Tuesday November 13, 2018 @01:51AM (#18439162)
4. It's easier to justify charging a subscription to your web app customers